State of the Camera Market: “What If...”

2016-02-19 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: editorial, EVF, exposure, histogram, raw file processing, true raw histogram

I was thinking about what I like and don’t like about cameras on the market today: image quality and resolution, lens performance, camera body ergonomics, viewfinders, 4K video and 4K or better time-lapse, service and support, etc.

Then I thought it would be interesting to pose these ideas as a series of “what if” questions—how would market demand change across brands? The thing is, nearly all of these ideas could be realized within a year. So what’s holding these companies back?

• What if Sony and Nikon and Canon added the Pentax K1 super resolution mode to their cameras? What point would there be to medium format? If Sony does it first, does it eviscerate the market even further for CaNikon?
• Why doesn’t Ricoh-Pentax debut a mirrorless camera instead of or in addition to the K1 DSLR?
• What if Canon and Nikon added an EVF option to their DSLRs so that a DSLR could function in essence as a mirrorless camera, but still have the DSLR OVF which remains useful? (think Leica M240 with EVF in hot shoe). How much allure would Sony lose?
• What if Canon or Nikon released a pure mirrorless camera with some lenses, but also with a lens adapter for attaching existing DSLR lenses? Or a pure mirrorless camera with DSLR lens mount (lose the EVF). How much allure would Sony lose?
• What if Sony adopted ergonomics as good as Canon or Nikon in a somewhat larger body, say a Sony A9 pro model?
• What if Zeiss or Sigma or any brand debuted a new line of ultra high performing lenses of f/2.8 to f/4 speed that were unrivalled by any other optics?
• What if we finally got a true raw histogram along with an auto ETTR exposure mode (perfect maximal exposure every time), coupled with a super resolution mode?
• What if a medium format mirrorless camera debuted? One with adapters for DSLR lenses (albeit in crop mode). [I exclude digital backs like the Alpha/PhaseOne from the mirrorless category].
• What if 8K OLED wall-size displays get cheap... will anyone be satisfied with less than an 8K camera?
• What if the next generation or two of camera phones relegates “real” cameras to even more of a niche market? And why can’t a camera phone use the Pentax K1 Super Resolution idea? [probably camera movement is a problem].